Chapter 14 Gown & Glamour #2
If the Hollow was a sweet, whimsical faerie forest I’d seen in picture books, where tiny winged people danced around mushroom rings, this part of the Arden was the dark and otherworldly home of the fay.
The trees here were far taller and more austere, raising the forest canopy far above our heads and effectively blocking out the waning sunlight, making it feel as though night had already arrived.
All throughout the high limbs bobbed multi-colored orbs of light, much like the ones Devil could conjure up.
But it was the Fair Folk themselves who truly took my breath away.
We were surrounded by dozens of them, in all shapes and sizes.
They were adorned in the most stunning and intricate clothes I had ever seen, each outfit altered to accommodate a wide variety of wings, tails, horns, ears, and paws borrowed from the forest’s creatures, as well as skin, appendages, and hair more closely resembling vines, mushroom caps, roots, leaves, or bark.
Above us fluttered the smallest citizens of the Arden, creatures much like Primrose, on their tiny bird or insect wings.
“You said you would glamour me,” I whispered to Devil as my eyes swept over the array of pointed ears making their way through the trees, all heading in the same direction.
“And I have,” he answered, holding his palm out and creating a small mirror for me.
There was a mask over my face which hadn’t been there before, in the shape of a Huntress moth with outstretched wings, covering my face from the forehead down to the top of my lips.
I put my hand up to it, but could feel nothing.
“Made of light,” I laughed. “Oh, you clever thing.” I regretted the words as soon as I said them, and ignored his self-important grin to examine my ears, which appeared pointed now, although they did not feel any different when I touched them.
“Satisfied?” he asked, snapping his hand closed.
I straightened up, a bubble of giddy anticipation swelling in my stomach.
Of all the places I’d ever imagined finding myself, a faerie revelry in the Forest of Arden had never been one of them, but I was determined to enjoy it.
I paused for a moment to look at Devil’s attire for the first time, noting that it was significantly more casual than anyone else’s—the same trousers and boots he’d worn to the falls that morning, paired with a simple green shirt that opened almost down to his navel in the front.
It was presumably slitted in the back as well, to accommodate his great, red wings, which were now out on display.
I dragged my eyes away from the exposed skin of his chest and stomach to examine his face.
A pair of gold hoops dangled from the tip of one pointed ear, and a bit of glittering gold powder had been smudged across his eyelids and cheekbones, but that was the most drastic change from his regular appearance.
“Does no one expect formality from you?” I asked, eyeing some of the other fay men, who wore layers of brocade, silk, lace, or leather, capes trimmed with gold, and extravagant masks paired with matching jewelry adorning their ears, heads, necks, and hands.
“I am not attending as a guest,” Devil answered with a hint of bitterness. “I am…working.”
“As my guard dog?”
“Hmm,” he said, grinning down at me, “would you prefer me collared and leashed, May?”
Doing my best to ignore the undercurrent of intimation in his words, even though my body flushed with heat, I simply tipped my head to meet his eyes. “I think perhaps for everyone’s safety, you ought to be. Will it be expected that I only dance with my escort?”
Devil hesitated and his brows knit together. “No, but—”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to keep you from your very important work,” I said, adopting a patronizing tone, “so perhaps I ought to start searching for another willing partner…or two.” I reached up and patted his cheek, giving him a simpering smile before threading my arm through his. “Shall we?”
He uttered something that was either a low growl or my name and rolled his shoulders back, then put on a pleasant expression. “Right this way, my lady.”
We walked through the towering trees in the same direction as the other guests, accompanied by a swarm of his fireflies, which drew far more attention than I was accustomed to receiving.
Many of the Fair Folk stopped to stare or whisper or point, while others merely greeted Devil by one of his other pseudonyms and only spared a passing glance for me.
“Who shall I pretend to be this evening?” I asked quietly.
“Yourself,” he answered.
“But surely I cannot introduce myself to folk as ‘Marina of Locksley’...”
“Marina will do.”
“And not a single soul will question where I came from or who I am?”
“The Fair Folk do not hold such obsession with title and family,” he assured me. “You are here with me, which means you are here at my master’s invitation. That will be enough for anyone who knows who I am.”
I considered the amount of eyes currently pinned on us. “Is there anyone here who does not know who you are?”
“Oh, sweet May, you cannot expect me to admit to the exaggeration of my own infamy,” he laughed, then he stopped suddenly and pointed. “Welcome to the heart of the Arden.”